Using the system

Please note that the online service is currently only available for cases in England.

To make an appeal online, go to the Make an appeal online page and click on the link to the appropriate form.

Help is available for each section of the form - click on the Help ? in the top right hand corner.

Answer each question in turn.  Questions that you must answer and fields that you must complete are all marked with a red asterisk.

Depending on the answers that you give to some questions, the form will change to display different fields.  There might also be short-cuts available to you, depending on your circumstances.  For example, if you say that you have previously submitted an appeal online, we will hold your details on our system and you will be able to re-use them.

There are a number of 'Finder' buttons on the form.  These help you find certain information quickly - for example, entering a house number and postcode, and then clicking on the Address Finder button will result in the rest of the address being completed automatically, and the grid reference will be filled in too.

Some parts of the form will ask you to provide additional information - either by typing into a box (or field), or attaching a document.  The boxes will expand to take as much information as you need.  You can attach a document as you would normally do, using the Browse button.

Saving a partially completed form

This facility allows you to draft the form, and then save it to complete later or send it to colleagues for additional information or to check. 

Once you click on the 'Save' button, you will need to use the features of your browser to save the 'page' onto your Desktop or Network as appropriate.

You can then e-mail the saved page to your colleague or make it available to them on a shared network drive.

To open the saved file, double-click on it from Windows Explorer (or similar), then click on the Resume button.

Note: If you have attached any documents, they will NOT be saved, and you will need to re-attach them when you open the file again.

Submitting a completed form

When you are happy with the completed form, and have checked it, click on the button to submit the form.  The system will check the form to make sure that you have completed all the mandatory fields and that your answers are consistent with each other - for example, if you have said that you want to handle your appeal using e-mail, the system will check that you have given us your e-mail address.  If there is anything missing, a message will appear on screen telling you what you need to do.

Any supporting documents that you have submitted in electronic form at the same time will also be checked (for further information see Electronic submissions).

If everything is OK, a box showing our Data Protection statement will be displayed on screen.  Once you click on OK, your form will be submitted to us.

On-screen Receipt and your copy of the Completed Form

Once the appeal has been received by us, you will get an on-screen receipt with the date and time on it.  A box will also appear giving you the opportunity to open and/or save a copy of the form that you have submitted.  It will be in PDF format.  Any documents that you have sent with the form will be listed within it, as will those documents that you have said will follow by post.  Continuation sheets will be added where you have entered more information in a box than can fit into the relevant part of the form.  Any documents that you have attached and submitted with your appeal form will NOT be part of the PDF file.